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I am a part time college English instructor and a shop owner. Located in Cape May County, NJ, we are seasonal, but I am open weekends year round (if the weather permits...aka snow/ice!). You can email me... dutchrose@comcast.net

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Sunday, February 16, 2014

On this date in 2011, Borders filed for bankruptcy. Barnes and Noble hangs on, but their digital
market did crash this past Christmas, and I would imagine that was due to the
popularity of Amazon’s Kindle. Barnes
and Noble did hold its own against Amazon when the latter was going to go into
publishing since they refused to carry any of the books that Amazon would publish (back to those drones, Jeff!).

But, will e-books like email take over? Or, are we going to be reduced to “hash-tags”?
And, like the ancient philosopher wrote-souless? As a trained librarian and an instructor
of composition, I hope not. I love the printed
word even though the internet has all the information one could possibly need. I guess I should be happy that some people
still do read. New books have that fresh
paper smell and speak to you when you open them even though you are “cracking”
their spines! And, old books have their
history.

I love books that have handwritten names or
notes. I know purists will tsk!tsk!, but
it shows real people handled these books not the buy and never touch people.

Just to compare the book to the e-world…here is an
old copy of The Rubaiyat.

Here is what is looks like online…

The Rubaiyat
By Omar Khayyam
Written 1120 A.C.E.

I
Wake! For the Sun, who scatter'd into flight
The Stars before him from the Field of Night,
Drives Night along with them from Heav'n, and strikes
The Sultan's Turret with a Shaft of Light.

But, in many ways, like what
circulates on the web, the authors of ancient works had no rights concerning
their published works; there were neither authors' nor publishing rights.
Anyone could have a text recopied, and even alter its contents. See the
similarities to the internet and ancient days?

Scribes earned
money and authors earned mostly glory unless a patron provided cash; a book
made its author famous. This followed the traditional conception of the
culture: an author stuck to several models, which he imitated and attempted to
improve. The status of the author was not regarded as absolutely personal.

Books were created
in Rome in the 1st century BC, and there were bookstores in the
Roman Empire. Julius Caesar wanted a
library to show political prestige. We
do have a Library of Congress today, but I am not sure Congress and prestige
are synonymous!

Guess who “invented”
papermaking, writing paper, tea bags, and toilet paper? If China came to mind, you win! In the first century AD, paper became something useful. The Chinese were the first to have paper
currency also.

Medieval paper
makers built water-powered paper mills, and the Chinese and Muslim handcrafted
paper was replaced with cheaper papers.
Of course, the printing press brought the book into the modern world in
the 15th century.

An old book with a handcrafted card makes a unique gift no matter what any "tweet" says...

But, in the 21st century, will the
modern world make that printing press obsolete? Will books be relegated to the attic to crumble...

Although I like this quote about that very idea…

“In an age of
infinite digital documentation, paper was the last safe place for secrets.”